our dogs have always been a part of our family

Hi my name is Cris! I’m a 34 year old single mom from Long Island, NY. I have two phenomenal sons Ameer (13) and Ezra (10) who help raise our pups from day one. They have helped whelp puppies and have learned the ins and outs of our family business. They continue to learn the importance of how to raise pups to be well-balanced and take their jobs of teaching them how to be great companions for children very seriously.

Although dogs have always been a strong passion of mine since childhood, I consider this to be my hobby. I’m a full-time outpatient psychotherapist which is also a passion of mine. I started in the health field at 18 as a CNA and my love for helping others grew from there. I merged the two fields when I started training my first service dog in my early twenties. I saw how dogs could make a huge difference in the lives of others.

My oldest is an absolutely amazing young teen. He has Autism and has always found socializing and reading social cues a bit tough. Although, the dogs can be overstimulating at times, these experiences have really pulled him out of his shell. He is able to communicate his feelings and emotions, and they do an amazing job of comforting and being in tune to his needs. Even our pups will naturally settle themselves around both my boys. It’s quite amazing to watch. Ezra decided to make a word search puzzle on breeding poodles and even added “placenta” on there, which gave me and I’m sure his teacher a chuckle.

I never thought I would be a dog breeder, in fact as a 90s kid, I grew up obsessed with watching Animal Planet. I saw so many documentaries on puppy mills and the horrific conditions those poor souls endured. As, a result, I grew up thinking all breeders were evil! I never in a million years thought I would be a breeder one day, fighting to set a higher standard for breeders everywhere.

As a child, I spent all my time with my Border Collies. My first was a rescue named Astro and when I was 13 I adopted Skye from North Shore Animal League in NY. I saved up money I had earned from being a dog trainer and paid for her adoption fee myself.

Astro was incredibly smart, and we participated in trick contests, agility, and frisbee. Before long, I began being hired to train other people’s dogs. I was hired to train my high school counselor and French teacher’s dogs.

It wasn’t until I was an adult, I found out I’m allergic to dogs. After falling in love with the Poodle breed, I decided to begin research on the essentials of puppy raising and how a nurturing environment with early exposures, set pups up for success.

I purchased my foundational female in April 2018 as a service dog prospect. We began training immediately and she was phenomenal. Unfortunately, she was attacked by an off-leash dog and that ended her career as a service dog. I began researching the breed more and more. Learning about temperaments and genetics, orthopedic testing, etc. I realized there weren’t many breeders who focused on lower energy poodles. That became my mission; to produce well-rounded and healthy Standard Poodles with a calmer disposition suitable for many lifestyles.

Now we do still have the occasional pups with higher energy levels, and I make sure to disclose that and help them find their perfect family. I feel it is safe to say majority of our pups are couch potatoes. They are well-suited for calmer lifestyles, young kids, apartment living. They still love hikes or going on walks when their family wants to, but it is not an everyday necessity. It has taken years of selective breeding and is always still a work in progress.

We’ve had great success in many of our puppies going off to do great things! We have several who are now service dogs; ranging from PTSD and Diabetic Alert to light Mobility work. All our dogs and puppies live in our home and are raised with love and care.

If adding a Strikingly Pup sounds like a good fit for you, feel free to contact me at 919.671.3339. Look Forward to Hearing from You!